“Looking back on my childhood and the way that my parents raised me, I can’t think of anything that was negative,” Erin Bates Pain (who joined the fam on May 2, 1991) told People. “Everything, looking back, is really positive, and we made the best memories.”
While they didn’t have a television “we substituted that for playtime with dad,” she continued. “Or, you know, playing games as a family or making memories. So, I don’t feel like we missed out on anything and, actually, I think we were smarter because of it.”
Which meant that after she married Charles “Chad” Stephen Paine IIIin 2013, they were eager for a big brood of their own. A blood clotting disorder let to several miscarriages before they were able to welcome Carsonin May 2015, Brooklynin August 2016, Everlyin May 2018, Hollandin November 2019 and Finleyin January 2022. And though she believed they wouldn’t be able to have more children, they went on to grow their family with Williamin October 2023 and Henry in August 2025. Revealing that Erin had gone into septic shock following Henry’s delivery, Chad wrote on Instagram. “We would so appreciate your prayers for Erin as she continues to recover from some complications.”
By October, she revealed she’d begun to walk, writing on Instagram, “They might be a little wobbly, but they are steps I wasn’t sure I’d ever take again.”